


Lemons on a bunk

by CoolshadesEspurr



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, male reader - Freeform, no beta we die like men, pre-season 6 bc i havent watched it yet, reader is inhuman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25079368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoolshadesEspurr/pseuds/CoolshadesEspurr
Summary: Reader is an inhuman tasked with bailing Deke Shaw out. They find themselves endeared with this man from the future. Real slow burn.
Relationships: Deke Shaw & Original Character(s), Deke Shaw/Reader
Kudos: 5





	1. Bail Out

**Author's Note:**

> Other characters are in the fic but I'm not filling their tags up with this since it doesn't focus on them and it's not fair to clog their tags with just mere cameos. im need x reader content or ill die thats a fact  
> so far only got 2 and a bit chapters so ill post irregularly LMAO srry. posting this at 2am

It wasn't every day that you got sent on a weird, oddly specific mission. Especially after the 4 months of radio silence you had from the person calling you. Well, you believed it to be 4 months. You were too focused on keeping under the radar. Agent Johnson had called you, asking you for a favour, and you weren't about to let her down. You were told to bail out some random guy, Deke Shaw. She explained, with as little detail as possible, that he was from the future and he helped get them back home from the future. You weren't sure if this was another Framework issue, but you heard the conviction in her voice.

Although you weren't a field agent, despite your inhuman abilities, you were occasionally sent out on low-stakes missions that needed to be done. You mostly spent your time in the lab, aiding with the development of forcefield technology. Your inhuman abilities proved invaluable in analysing how to project powerful barriers, and you got close a few times to perfecting it. But you still had a long way to go.

You made it to the jail… office? Looking at it, you had no clue what to make of it. It seemed very small and all you could make out were two men sitting at separate desks, typing away at desktop computers. Getting out of your car, you took a deep breath. You had a plan.

With every ounce of confidence you could muster, you entered the building, head held high. You fixed your tie at the entrance, the door closing just as you finished tightening it.

"Ah, hello there," You instinctively made your voice more commanding and deeper. It was your way of garnering respect and being taken seriously. "I assume you're Chief Wellins?" You looked at the man at the computer desk to your left.

"Yes." The man replied flatly, making his way towards you at the front desk.

"I am here to collect Deke Shaw," You looked over the man's shoulder to see who was in the cell behind him. The guy matched the description Agent Johnson had provided. He was average height and build, with dark brown hair that was tousled, wearing what looked like a bootleg sci-fi bounty hunter outfit. You'd find it endearing if it weren't for the fact he was clearly drunk. You could almost smell the booze off him from the door.

"What's your name, son?" 

"Ah," You were caught off guard, you were too focused on looking at Deke. You cleared your throat, " Isaac Sinclair."

That was your go-to alias nowadays. You were prepped with the fake I.D. and records that S.H.I.E.L.D. had provided before you'd taken up lab work with them. That was their way of protecting you during the whole Inhuman situation garnered the attention of less than reputable folks. The I.D. was in your back pocket at all times, just in case you needed to fib your way out of a situation.

"And what are you to this man?" Chief Wellins glanced you up and down, sizing you up. Scepticism painted his face and you definitely didn't feel like being interrogated. You had to play it cool, keep it vague and simple, is what you thought. But the first thought that popped into your head burst out from your mouth. "Roommates, Chief." You cleared your throat, adding a bit more finality to your statement. "We uh, share an apartment."

You tittered a bit at the end of your statement. It wasn't the most foolproof response, but it'd give you valid enough reason to be interested in bailing him. Your plan had been to say you were a social worker, like Agent Johnson had suggested. Yet you spoke too soon and now you had to commit and work with it. The cogs were now grinding in the Chief's head.

"Right." The man was clearly sceptical, but the dejected tone and slight tinge of exhaustion tipped you off that he couldn't be bothered probing.

"I took the liberty of paying his bail before coming in, to save you some time. I apologize for his actions." You leaned in a little closer to the officer, lowering your voice to a little. "He's between jobs and his partner broke up with him recently. I think he got into the liquor cabinet and got a little bit too drunk for himself to handle. I hope he hasn't been giving you fellas a hard time, I know he can be quite rowdy."

"Well, I'm not really looking to keep drunk men in my cells, just make sure it doesn't happen again." Chief Wellins replied. He looked over to his partner who gave an affirmative nod that what you said was true.

Wellins made his way over to the cell, unlocking it and letting Deke out. He escorted the man over to you.

"Hey, Deke, buddy, how's it going?" You grinned, spreading your arms out to gesture for a hug. Deke simply looked at you.

Damn, he obviously didn't know you, and was sizing you up for a friend or foe. You had to tip him off somehow.

"Luckily for you, Daisy shot me a message about what happened so I could come pick you up." You said Agent Johnson's name with a bit more emphasis than you should have. He cocked a brow before the message clicked. At least he wasn't too drunk to take a hint.

"Oh. Oh yeah! Our mutual friend. Daisy. Who is outside, I take it? Hopefully?" He looked at you expectantly, puppy dog eyes in full throttle. You shook your head and he pouted.

"I, uh," You cleared your throat, looking at Chief Wellins, "Made a donation to your charity fund, as a gesture of goodwill for making sure he didn't get himself into more trouble." You both headed to the door, trying to escape as soon as possible.

"Hold on." The other officer finally spoke. He stood up from his chair. 

You hesitantly turned around, silently cursing the powers that be. "Y-yeah?"

"There's still paperwork for you to fill out."

"Oh, of course, absolutely. We'll wait over here whilst you get it sorted out for us. Thank you." You trailed Deke off to the side.

"Right, new guy, don't know you. Where is Daisy?" Deke said, almost a bit too loud for your liking. 

"She can't be here right now. Be thankful that we got to you before any of our numerous enemies." You replied, a bit too harshly. The slightest tinge of guilt hit you when you realized he risked his ass for the team in the future.

"Well, she owes me. I sacrificed myself to get her and her buddies back here." His voice was still a little tipsy.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole situation." You pinched the bridge of your nose, trying to get a grip on things. "So, how'd you end up here then?"

"Well first I tried some beer, then some Zima… that stuff is good."

"No I meant… Timewise. You know what? We'll talk later. I'll get the paperwork sorted out and I'll do a proper introduction later. You made your way over to the other officer and filled in the paperwork. This was going to be a long drive back.


	2. Ice Cream Detour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You take Deke to a 7-eleven or something because youre like damn he really do be trying to eat air fresheners and you don't want him dying of toxic chemicals under your watchful eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can really tell im like oh he is scruffy like little puppy i wanna take care of him. give him food 
> 
> anyway.  
> next chapter is wip but im using a lot of dialogue and scenarios from the show to make sure its as close to canon as possible, as i really dont wanna break canon. perhaps once we get to the end of season 4 timeline ill spice it up a little bit
> 
> anyway if you're reading this ily! if you enjoy it pleas leave an kudo for my soul but if you dont thats fine!
> 
> this is self indulgent but im the first deke x reader on here bc im a trendsetter and thts the mf tea!

All the paperwork was mind-numbingly boring, but it saved Agent Johnson from compromising herself by bailing Deke out. You had taken him out to your car, which felt a tad under armoured considering who may now be after you now that you had some future man in your care. Of course you could've taken your S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle but that would do nothing to help you for going under the radar.

You both sat in the front. Deke looked wide eyed. "Woah this is like… retro… so cool."

"It's not that old." You managed, a bit flustered. It wasn't that old of a car was it? You weren't exactly rolling in money.

"Anyway, I still don't know your name, new guy. Or you just gonna leave me hanging?"

"The name's Y/N L/N." You put your hand out for him to shake it. Despite all the boring paperwork you had to sift through, you were kind of endeared by him. He was kind of like a stray puppy, what with his well, entire unkempt appearance.

After shaking your hand he sniffed the air, closing his eyes and tilting his head back a bit.

"Oh what is that smell?" He grinned. "Smells like… that ice cream I tried from the trash."

"It's my vanilla scented air freshener." You pointed at the clip on air freshener on your air vents. You paused for a second, finally processing what he said. You jerked back to the conversation, "You ate garbage ice cream? Who eats garbage ice cream?"

"Hey. Once you come from a time where you eat sterilization pills then you can lecture me about picky eating."

"It's not picky eating, it's food hygiene, gross dude." You shuddered.

He prodded at the air freshener with the curiosity of a child. He glanced at you expectantly. "Can I-?"

Well he was apparently from an apocalyptic future, every sensation would be new to him. And you didn't want to be a hard ass on him, especially when Agent Johnson would chew him out when you got back to the Lighthouse. You nodded. "Yeah you can take it out."

He gripped the clip, clicking it out from the vent and laughing as he tilted it from side to side. He drew it closer to his nose to give it a big whiff. You chuckled a bit to yourself, it'd be a cute quirk if it wasn't so sad.

Then he licked it. He really went ahead and licked it. His face contorted in disgust and he spat out into the air.

"Dude gross! Why's it smell so good if it tastes that bad. I mean even the pellets aren't that gross." He wiped his tongue with his hands.

"It's an air freshener, it's chemicals that smell good so your car doesn't stink or whatever. You're not meant to eat it!" You said incredulously.

"Coulda warned me first."

"I didn't warn you because normally, people don't try to _lick_ air fresheners." You sighed.

You looked at him. He seemed a bit dejected that it tasted as horrid as it did, and you felt bad for your inconsiderate and rude outburst. He obviously was a fish out of water, and even though it was kind of funny, he really did come from a terrible future that didn't afford him a moment of peace. He wouldn't have much time to savour the present when Agent Johnson would put him into hiding in the Lighthouse to keep the secret from spilling out.

Turning on the ignition, you typed in a destination on your GPS. You were going to show him a good time. Surely Agent Johnson wouldn't mind a _little_ detour? What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Well, you'd hope she wouldn't figure out, because she would tear you a new ass if she found out you dillydallied.

"You want to try real ice cream?"

His face lit up. "Hell yeah I do."

It was on your way to the Lighthouse, so you definitely had time to buy him a quick ice cream. All the parlours were closed due to it being like, 9pm at night, but you were determined to give him even a store-bought ice cream. You parked up and debated for a minute if you'd let him come into the store with you. It'd be best if you just took him in and let him decide, it was probably the most freedom he'd be afforded for a while.

"Ok, so we go in the store, you pick out an ice cream and a couple of junk foods you want for the trip back. I'm giving you 5 minutes, any longer and I will pick for you." You had to set boundaries, if you were too late you'd probably get into a lot of bother too.

He was giddy. "Ok got it."

It felt like you left a toddler loose in a toy store, he picked up every item, examining it before putting it back as if it was the most important decision of his life.

"Woah, they have lemons in here?" He picked up a lemon from the produce aisle and gave it a big sniff.

"You want me to get you that?" You tilted your head. It was bizarre taste but maybe you'd get your money's worth when he bit right into it and cringe at the sourness.

"Oh. No. No. Man we're not quite there yet." He put the lemon down and put his arms up, taking a step back in a "whoa there" type of gesture.

"I don't quite follow. Do you want the lemon or not?"

His eyes darted back and forth between you and the lemon. "Whatever. Ooh, are there any oranges? I love oranges."

Shrugging it off, you pointed him towards the basket of oranges. He must've picked up a good half a dozen, the pile in his arms almost falling onto the floor. Great to see your money would be spent on enough oranges to put Tropicana out of business.

"Alright." You snapped your fingers a couple times, "Pick out your ice cream and drink. I'm going to go grab something for myself."

It had taken him a solid 3 minutes of deliberating on what kind of ice cream and drink he wanted. You made your way to the self-checkout and scanned your stuff through getting a couple of odd glances from the staff member when they saw you type in 8 oranges. The excursion had put you off schedule and you dreaded to think how you'd explain the gap in time. 'We got lost' and 'Traffic was a nightmare' were the weakest excuses you could muster and they'd probably earn you more grief than the simple truth. God, you would not hear the end of this. 

Seated in the passenger seat, he peeled away at an orange, unsure of where to throw the bits of skin. You chuckled to yourself a bit.

"Throw the skin in the plastic bag. Little tip for the future, if you roll the orange in your palms, it peels easier."

Immediately, he began rolling the orange between his palms. His face was pure awe when it peeled as easy as it did.

"Woah, thanks dude." He began to eat at the orange at a pace that was rivalled only by garbage disposal. "You're way nicer than the other S.H.I.E.L.D. folks."

"Thanks, I try to be." You took a bite out of your sandwich, smiling to yourself.


	3. Lighthouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You arrive back at the lighthouse with Deke only to find out things are dire for Yo-yo and a fear dimension has ripped open, unleashing the team's greatest fears for you to face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im still trying to get to grips with reader and deke's dynamic i think its more of a "damn thats rough buddy" kinda vibe that reader has with deke and kind of excuses deke being deke. they're buddy-buddy more in a "hey bro you are kind of cool and neat to hang around" "thanks bro you too" the end. 
> 
> chapters are a lot shorter than i expect them to be because damn if im rusty on writing.
> 
> anyway deke is just neat ok this is self indulgent do not roast me.

You had just gotten back to base when you bumped into Agent Johnson. She seemed preoccupied with some random man wearing a suit. Your first impression was he was one of those door-to-door salesmen, but surely Agent Johnson wouldn't let one of them in, right? Deke gawked at the computer systems in the main room.

"Oh there's Daisy." Deke's face lit up and he rushed over to her, ignoring the man she was speaking to.

"Deke? About time." She glanced over at you. "Thanks for taking care of him, Y/N."

"Of course, anytime Agent Johnson." You smiled back.

"You can just call me Daisy, it's fine dude."

"Hello, I am Noah. I believe saving you from imprisonment was wrong." The man spoke to Deke. Who the Hell was he to say that? You opened your mouth to speak but caught yourself before making a fool out of yourself.

"Oh, alright cool. Well you seem fun." Deke retorted. A pretty weak response.

The communication line opened, and a video feed of Agent May appeared on the screen. She seemed a bit more panicked than you were used to seeing, her stone cold composure was more cracked than you'd ever witnessed first-hand.

"Come in, we need to land. Somewhere close and fast. Give us the co-ordinates Daisy." She said over the line. She didn't wait for the reply, closing the feed.

"What's going on?" Daisy typed away at the computer in front of her, typing in some co-ordinates for the group to land at.

You weren't sure what was going on but it sounded grave. You glanced at Deke who was busy watching Daisy getting everything ready. Well, at least he wouldn't be getting into any trouble.

\--

It turned out that the emergency situation was one involving Agent Rodriguez or Yo-yo as she preferred to be called, apparently on their way to disarm a beacon, they were betrayed by Piper. Yo-yo ended up losing her arms in a fight with some assassin with a chakram. It broke your heart to hear it. Currently, she was stabilized after extensive surgery to stop her from bleeding out. You were tasked, alongside Daisy and Deke, to locate some medicine.

"Ok, so we need to find where they keep the medication in here. Something for nerve pain." Daisy explained to you both as you sifted through boxes, glancing over boxes.

Deke fixated on a can of what you could only presume was cleaning product. "Whoa. Orange scented? That's amazing." He raised it to his mouth, about to spray. You gripped his wrist and pulled the product away from his tongue.

"Not edible, Deke." You laughed. "It'll probably make you sick if you try it."

"No snacking Huckleberry, Simmons is waiting, we need to get a move on." Daisy called to you both.

Deke perked up and jogged to catch up with her. "In the future, it was nearly impossible to get fresh fruits and vegetables. But…" His eyes lit up as he spoke, a grin spreading across his face, "every year for my birthday, my mom would find me a big, juicy orange to eat."

"Sounds like a nice tradition."

"Yeah, it was. I loved the way my hands smelled after. What about you? Did you have any special birthday traditions growing up?"

"Nope." Daisy replied flatly.

"Wh-what? Seriously? Nothing? What, were you raised in a house with sucky parents?"

Oh boy. You thought. You placed your hand on his shoulder about to play damage control but Daisy beat you to it.

"More like an orphanage with mean, scary nuns."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to be a jerk."

"Really? Could've fooled me." Her jab seemed more playful and had a little less bite than you expected.

"Well I mean, sometimes I'm a jerk cause it's funny, but not just then. I thought we were having a moment." He seemed genuinely regretful of what he said.

He had a good heart, you could tell, but you also knew he must have been shady to have Daisy act like this even after he sacrificed everything for the group to get back. Still, he seemed like a nice dude. You spoke up, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"For what it's worth, I don't think you're a jerk."

"See! Y/N thinks I'm nice for my sacrifice. Heheh, that rhymed." He smiled back in response.

The three of you continued to search cardboard boxes on the shelves before something caught the corner of your eye. It was a large blue figure. Your gaze swung to it. They were a Kree warrior from the looks of it. They held a large weapon, that looked vaguely reminiscent of an oversized scalpel, with blood staining the blade. They headed straight towards Deke.

"Deke, watch out!" You called out to him.

Deke glanced behind himself before rushing in between the shelves to give himself some cover. Smart move. The Kree swung the blade at him, managing to slice right into his upper shoulder. Daisy sprang into action straight away, kicking at the Kree warrior before going in for a punch. The warrior caught her fist before throwing her behind them, slamming her right into the shelves. She was winded by the blow, laying on the ground trying to catch her breath.

The Kree didn't focus on Daisy at all, simply continuing to chase after Deke. As quickly as you could manage, you sprinted between the Kree and the fleeing Deke. Instinctively, you thrust your hands up into the air, conjuring a forcefield with all your strength. The Kree warrior swung the blade at you, the oversized scalpel halting mere inches away from your hands. Damn, they were extremely strong. It took all your strength to keep the blade from ripping apart your barrier. Your palms burned from the energy of your own forcefield being crushed onto you.

"Deke…" Your voice was filled with exhaustion already, the force of the blade wringing every ounce of energy from your body. You swallowed hard before screaming out, "Run!" You fell to a knee, the blade inching your forcefield ever closer to your own skull.

Daisy had gotten up from where she lay, running towards the table on your right and nabbing a pistol. She shot the warrior dead in skull. The Kree warrior fell backwards where they stood, their body taking a gaseous form before dissipating entirely. You all took a moment to breath and process what just happened.

"Th-thanks Daisy," You managed between your gasps and gulps for air. You shook your hands in the air, trying to cool the burning sensation down.

"Everyone ok?" Daisy asked, lowering her gun.

"Yeah, thanks to you." You forced a laugh but you were still catching your breath.

"Only a little cut on my arm," Deke winced, gripping the bleeding wound.

"Guess we'll need to grab medicine for you too huh?" You joked, finally standing up.

\--

Daisy had went to report the incident to the others whilst you patched Deke up in the infirmary, awaiting Simmons to give him a check-up for any signs of infection. Deke sat on the infirmary table, legs kicking back and forth as you sanitized your hands. You went over to him, inspecting the wound and clearing away dirt with the wet washcloth in your hand. You dabbed gently with the cloth and were met with hisses of pain from Deke.

"Sorry Deke," You winced in sympathy.

"'s fine, the water's just cold." He managed, fixated on the wall across the room. "Daisy sure is a badass huh?"

"Yeah, I'm just glad she stepped in, I didn't think I'd be able to hold my forcefield up much longer." Even with all the adrenaline you felt in that moment, you were still wrestling with a Kree, fake or not. You definitely wouldn't be winning arm wrestles against them, that's for sure.

"So is your ability just a forcefield or…?"

"I release energy from my hand that creates a physical barrier. Not as impressive as Daisy but, hey, it stopped us both from impromptu Kree dissection." You'd finished cleaning the wound by this time and were now applying some gauze over the wound. "All patched up. Simmons can give you a once over when we catch back up to them."

"Thanks man." He got up from the table, wind milling his arm. "Sucks about my jacket though, it's hard to come by cool ones."

"You're lucky I have some spare shirts, I'd hate to see you borrow one of Fitz's or Dire-…. Coulson's dress shirts." You rummaged in one of your bags, pulling out a checked shirt and throwing it towards him. "Hope it fits you."

He caught it, putting it on and buttoning it up. "I think it suits me."

You both made your way to the main room and got caught in the middle of the conversation, it appeared Fitz had a theory that some sort of fear dimension or rift opened up and was somehow manifesting your greatest fears. It was such a shame you never encountered a "wildest dreams" rift that gave you a billion dollars or summoned a horde of cute puppies. Of course it had to be greatest fears. Fitz had been explaining how the dimension works and how the rift needed to be sealed before it manifested too far and affected the town above.

"I don't know how to close it without entertaining the possibility of one of us sacrificing ourselves…" Fitz said. He paused thoughtfully before clapping his hands together and gesturing to Deke. "Ok, Deke."

Part of you got defensive on Deke's behalf. Was Fitz that cruel? You heard about his time in the Framework but there was no way he was implying that Deke was expendable, was he? You opened your mouth to retort,

"Hey wait a minute, that's not fair."

"Oh no. Me? Hell no, no way. I just got back to a time that has nice things like ice cream, fresh fruits and actual sunshine. So, no. No way. And in case all of you forgot, I already sacrificed myself to get you all back here. So I'm done with playing the hero and having you guys act like my life doesn't matter." Deke sped up through the sentence and his tone was incredulous, obviously trying to get his fair share in before everyone started arguing.

"No, I'm not asking you to sacrifice yourself again. I just want to borrow your belt buckle to use the gravitonium as a makeshift Band-Aid for the rift." Fitz clarified.

Ok, so he wasn't cruel. That was good. And you were relieved, you didn't want to argue with anyone but you sure as hell didn't want to stand idly by as they decided Deke would be the price of sealing some rift that wasn't even his fault.

"Oh sure, anything to save the world, right." He tittered towards the end of his sentence, obviously a bit embarrassed by his outburst. You didn't blame him for a second though, he deserved at least a little time to savour a non-shattered Earth. More than your little detour afforded him anyway.

\--

After the discussion, Simmons gave Deke a once over and checked for any signs of infection. Not that it was likely some nightmare conjured entities would have much time to scrub their weapons with toxic bacteria or viruses, but better safe than sorry you supposed. Luckily there were no signs of infection so far. Definitely handy considering Deke wasn't likely to have had access to tetanus shots in the future. He made his way over to you after Simmons gave him the thumbs up.

"Hey man, thanks for sticking up for me. I know I can be a jerk sometimes, so others are quick to distance themselves from me. It's nice to know I have an actual friend in this timeline." Deke said.

"Don't sweat it, I didn't get to say much anyway. You held your own, and thankfully it wasn't needed. Fitz ought to work on his tact, that was… well it was kind of jarring." You folded your arms over each other. "So what are you planning to do after the rift thing, or whatever, is sealed?"

"Coulson wanted to meet with me to speak about some things. Not sure what he wants but, who am I to say no?" He gave an exaggerated shrug.

"Well, don't let him make you do anything too stupid, I'd hate to see you not finish your bucket list." You gave a little laugh, patting him on the shoulder.

"I survived a lot worse than sunshine and oranges in the future."

"I'll hold you to it then."


End file.
